


Breath

by Sephone_North



Series: Book 2: Riptide [7]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angry Spirits, Firestorms, Gen, I almost put the relationship tag Aang/Air up there, familial guilt, suffocation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-13 01:34:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29768685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sephone_North/pseuds/Sephone_North
Summary: The Southern Air Temple is silent. For the first time in a hundred years, a human stands on her grounds and breaths in the wind.They do not expect the wind to answer them.
Relationships: Aang & Katara & Sokka, Yue & Zuko & Azula
Series: Book 2: Riptide [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1874428
Comments: 28
Kudos: 272





	Breath

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MuffinLance](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MuffinLance/gifts).



> Two in an hour! Hell Yeah! 
> 
> This is the chapter I wanted to write, and you can tell, cause I knocked in it out so fast. I will say that this evolved into something much different than I originally had in my notes. I cranked up the Drama(tm) to eleven in this, which will mean I added work onto myself to carry that tension into upcoming chapters, but who cares. Worth it! 
> 
> Please let me know what you think on this one? I'm very proud of it.

Zuko sighed as he looked around the temple, following an excited Aang dragging Katara ahead of him. Sokka was right behind them, suspicious eyes glancing around. A weight laid on his shoulders, hearing the breeze whisper through the empty buildings. This was his ancestor’s fault. Sozin killed an innocent people, for no reason other than his own fear. 

An arm slid into his and he almost jumped, before sensing Yue’s inner snowfall next to him. He glanced down. 

“It was not your doing,” She said quietly, no doubt reading his mind. He grimaced. 

“But it was my line.” 

“We are not our ancestors,” her voice was sharp. “I am not my great-great grandfather, Kilgik, the Pirate who slaughtered villages with no mercy, and you are not Sozin.” 

He blinked down at her. “There was a pirate in your line?” He asked. 

Yue rolled her eyes. “Not the point, but yes. Kilgik pillaged the northern coast, until the Earth Kingdom requested the navies of the Water Tribe and the Fire Nation to kill him.” She pinched him, making him yelp. “Stop trying to distract me from your guilt trip.” 

“I hate you,” He grumbled. He paused for a moment. “Where’s Azula? He asked, noticing his sister was no longer with them. 

“She said she wanted to stay with Appa.” Yue replied. “She said that she didn’t think she was the right person to have around at such a time.” 

“Probably not,” He agreed. His sister was good at many things, but showing any form of empathy was not one of them.

“Now, remember that you’re doing everything you can to make up for the crimes of your forefathers. I doubt even the yuan gui would blame you for it.” 

He let out another low sigh and then dipped his head to press his temple against the top of Yue’s head. Her inner snowfall spun in joy and adoration and he smiled. 

“Are you okay?” He asked quietly. 

“Sleep is difficult,” She replied softly. “And I keep worrying about what’s coming.” 

“We’ll face it,” He promised. “We’ll get through it, Princess.” 

“Thank you, Zuko.” 

A shout up ahead caught their attention, making them straighten. They traded looks and raced forward to catch up with the others. They arrived to see Aang standing on a stairway, looking around the wide open area of the temple. 

“It’s just so empty,” He said quietly, wrapping his arms around himself. “There used to be so many people here, monks and bisons, and now-” He shivered. “They’re gone. I’m alone.” 

Katara stepped forward and slid her arm around his shoulders. “I’m so sorry, Aang. But you’re not alone. We’re right here with you.” He melted into her side. 

Zuko glanced around, and felt a tiny dragon tongue flicking against his ear. He sighed and reached up to scratch beneath Druk’s chin. 

He had a lot of crimes to make up for. 

\---

Azula giggled as she held up a piece of seal jerky above Himiko’s head. The little dragon let out a high-pitched attempt at a roar and leaped for it. Azula jerked it up slightly, making her jump up and flutter her wings. She tossed the jerky out, and Himiko darted after it, squeaking out in victory. 

Appa lowed, before glancing at her. She blinked and shrugged. “If you want to go searching you can,” Azula said softly. “I’m not sure you’ll find anything.” 

Appa snorted, but leaped in the air in a gust of wind, taking to the air with ease. The blowback wasn’t very hard, ruffling Azula’s bangs, but Himiko hadn’t even prepared and it knocked her over. She croaked in panic, and Azula reached down to scoop her up.

“You’re fine,” she murmured, letting the lithe little creature wrap around her fingers. 

Azula wasn’t prone to emotions like love. She was aware of that and had been for years. But the emotions she felt for the tiny dragon currently trying to nibble on her fingernail eclipsed anything she’d ever felt before. She would die for Yue, Hakoda, and Bato. She would kill for any of her people. She would burn the world to the ground for Zuko. 

And that wasn’t even close to what she’d do for Himiko. 

A soft breeze played around her head, twisting her bangs. She smiled softly, stepping a little closer to the edge of the temple courtyard. The mountain dropped off in a sheer fall, hundreds of feet in the air. Some people would feel fear, but she just felt a sense of exhilaration. 

The wind picked up, swirling around her faster and faster, like the middle of a tornado. She stumbled back, gasping in surprise. Himiko let out a shriek. 

**“A storm child. How surprising,”** a voice whispered in her ear. It rasped against her nerves, power pressing against her. 

A spirit, she thought, trying not to panic as she felt herself struggling to breath. She tucked Himiko in close and brought her hand up. No fire ignited, choked to death by the wind. She blinked. 

**“Fire needs air to breath.”** The voice chuckled. **“So do you, I suppose.”**

She didn’t waste a thought to try and answer. She closed her eyes and lit the sparks in her soul. 

Ever since her training with the raiju, the lightning lived under her skin, sparks ready to be called at a moments notice. She didn’t need a form to light up. She called to it now, enjoying the skittering arcs of electricity playing across her skin. She did her best to keep it from Himiko, but the dragon ignored her attempt, snapping at a spark and letting another twist around her. 

The voice laughed and the wind died down, allowing Azula to regain her breath. Before she could do more than gasp, the wind wrapped up next to her, before coalescing into an odd dust filled form. It looked almost like a deer, before it flowed away, shifting into some other creature shape, before shifting again. 

**“I do love the children of Fire,"** The spirit said, drawing her attention away from its confusing movements. She blinked. **“So direct. It takes much to intimidate them.”**

“Thank you, spirit of wind,” She said, trying hard not to be sarcastic. She let the sparks go, letting the electricity settle back in her skin. “May I ask who I’m speaking to?” 

The spirit twisted back into the deer shape, letting out another laugh. **“You may. I am named Fujin,”**

A chill went down Azula’s spine. “Ah,” She said quietly. “I suppose it would make sense that the Great Spirit of Air would live in an airbender temple.” 

**“I live in the wind,”** It said quietly, but there was an edge to it. **“Or, I did.”**

“Did?” 

The wind picked up, making her take a few stumbling steps away from the edge of the cliff. She could feel anger brush against her as the breeze pulled at her clothes and yanked her hair from her topknot. 

**“I am trapped on these damnable mountaintops, held to these temples.”** Fujin’s voice boomed over her, making her flinch slightly. **“The people I was tied to died, and in their dying, they caged me here.”**

“I don’t-” She took a deep breath, running a finger over Himiko’s back, calming the trembling creature. “I am not my great-grandfather,” She said quietly. “Killing me will give you no justice.” 

**“I do not want justice, little summer storm,”** Fujin rasped. “I don’t even want vengeance. I want _freedom_ ”

\---

Aang swallowed back the tears as he led the others up to where the statue of Monk Gyatso sat. He remembered the first time he’d asked about the statue. It had felt so familiar to him, as if he’d known it as it’d been carved. 

“Ah, a dear friend carved this for me as a jest,” Gyatso had said, an almost sad smile on his face. “He demanded it remain for a year, as a punishment for me daring to beat him in a game of air ball. I have not had the heart to remove it.” 

“I don’t understand?” 

“He died before the year was up.” 

Aang felt like he could understand now. He wished he had something to remember Gyatso with, though a statue would be silly. Even if the FIre Nation hadn’t ransacked his home, the passage of time had. He knew Gyatso was gone, no matter what. 

“This is Monk Gyatso,” He said softly, staring up at the kind eyes of the statue. “He taught me everything I know.” 

A breeze drifted by, and for a moment, Aang though he could smell ginseng. Tears filled his eyes. Ginseng had been his master’s favorite, and the scent had clung to his robes. Aang wiped his eyes and bowed low, trying not to sob. He took a moment before rising up to look at the statue once more. 

A hand touched his shoulder. “You must miss him,” Katara said, her voice soft and kind.

“Yeah,” Aang murmured, shrugging her hand off. He did not want her sympathy, not at the moment. It hurt too much. He stepped around the statue. 

“Wait,” Zuko asked, drawing Aang’s attention. He glanced back at all four of them. “Where are you going?” 

“The Air Temple Sanctuary,” Aang replied, turning and walking forward. “There’s someone I’m ready to meet. 

\---

“Freedom,” Azula murmured, running a finger along Himiko’s spine. “Air is said to be the element of freedom.” 

**“And once, I was."** Fujin growled, twisting and shifting shape once again. **“But my siblings did not heed my warnings. I told them that Raava’s plan was foolish. But they do not listen! And now, that stupid wyrm’s foolishness has trapped me here.”**

“Raava,” She said. She turned to glance back at the temple behind her. “The Avatar?” 

**She created order, but she did it with separation. This was not true order, but the illusion of balance. All elements are connected. You, human, are a combination of the elements, gifted by the Great Spirits. To separate that, would be to destroy you at a spiritual level. You cannot be separated, and neither can the people. It creates conflict, which creates war.”**

“Then how do you fix this?” 

Fujin’s form shifted to something with sharp teeth and Azula nearly shuddered. There was something in that look that startled her. **“Oh, I do not have to do anything. The winds of fate will blow the problem into the right direction, after all."**

“What are you talking about?” She demanded, eyes narrowing. 

**“Do not worry yourself about it, little Storm. You will see soon, I’m sure. You plan to follow along with the Chosen, after all.”** Fujin laughed. **“I know what my siblings plan. You’ll meet the dragon soon enough!”**

Before she could demand answers, an explosion sounded on the other side of the temple. She jerked forward, spinning on her heel to stare at the smoke twisting upwards, a tornado of dust and power reaching towards the sky. She turned back, but the Spirit was gone. 

She hissed between her teeth, "What the-"

\---

“-hell is going on?” Sokka roared, pressing himself against a broken wall. Air blasted around him, a deadly maelstrom with the young airbender at the center. 

“The Avatar Spirit,” Zuko responded, his voice pitched to be heard over the tornado. “The shock, it triggered it!” 

“How do we get it to stop?!” Sokka snapped. 

“I don’t know!” 

If Sokka had known that this is what would’ve happened when they went chasing after that stupid lemur, he would’ve let the firebender cook the dang thing. He certainly wouldn’t have followed the laughing airbender. 

“We told him,” He heard the prince next to him mutter darkly. “We warned him and he- argh!” A rock flew past, nearly braining the other boy. Sokka grabbed his sleeve and yanked him down before something knocked him out. 

“He’s going to blast us off the mountain!” Sokka yelled. 

“If we’re lucky,” was the response. Which did not fill Sokka with comfort. 

“Sokka! Zuko!” Yue’s voice called, and the boys turned to see her and Katara coming closer, pushing against the wind. Zuko waved them away. 

“What is going on?!” Katara screamed, ignoring him. 

“Your sister is going to get herself killed.” Zuko grumbled, glaring harshly at Yue, who had gotten the message immediately. Sokka watched as the older Water Tribe girl grabbed Katara’s arm and pulled her back. 

“I’m aware!” Sokka snapped. He looked back at the spinning wind storm and flinched back. Aang’s ball of death was floating now. “Does anyone have any ideas!?”

A crackle filled the air, almost as in response. The hair on his arm rose, as if in warning. Before he could yell, a lightning bolt slammed into the ground under the Avatar. The wind faltered for a second, before intensifying. But now, the swirling ball of destruction had a target. 

The target of a young woman coated in sparks, glaring definitely at her own doom. 

“AZULA!” Zuko roared, realizing what was happening. Sokka jumped on the older boy before he broke cover, as the wind spun faster. The princess didn’t even glance at him, too focused on the threat in front of her. She arced her arms around in wide circles and the world changed colors around her as the lightning built up before exploding out of her fingers. Sokka could tell that she wasn’t aiming directly at Aang, which he was grateful for. He didn’t know if the kid would be able to survive being struck by lightning. 

The blasting wind lessened up on them, because it was tightening around Aang, twisting to creating a narrow deadly tornado. Zuko nearly elbowed him in the throat, twisting out of his grip, while Sokka was distracted by the fight in front of him. 

“She’s going to kill him!” Katara screamed, much closer now that the wind had stopped blasting outward as much. 

“He’s going to kill her!” Zuko snarled back. “Dammit!” They both moved to run, but Sokka caught them by the arms, spinning to try and throw them off balance and to the side behind a wall. Zuko was like a rock, but Katara slipped, falling into the older boy. It was just enough to knock him down, landing them in a heap behind cover. 

He didn’t know what had warned him, but he could feel it in his gut. Moving forward, even a little, was a death trap. Something was about to happen. 

The tornado spun faster, tighter. He saw Azula’s eyes narrow. He saw a shift in the wind around her, the form of a tall man with antlers leaning over her shoulder. He saw the lightning spark out into the ground, before the princess shifted stances. His eyes widened. 

The fire storm was beautiful in a way, bright blue flames meeting the tornado is a blast of heat. 

He’d once seen a waterspout on a lone fishing trip. He remembered staring at it, at the power involved as wind and water met together. He had been lucky, far enough away not to get caught up. 

This time, he wasn’t. 

The heat wave slammed into him, knocking off his feet and throwing him back. He hadn’t had time to brace, still off balanced from throwing the other two. He bounced, twice, on the ground, each time knocking the breath from lungs that didn’t feel like they worked to begin with. His eyes were squeezed shut, but they felt like they had cooked inside the sockets, burning with an intensity he had never felt before. 

He thought he heard someone scream, but there was nothing but ringing and stuffiness in his ears. He hadn’t realized that fire was so loud. He rolled to a stop and tried to breath in, but there was nothing. 

No air, no nothing. He was drowning on dry land, up in the clouds. 

_Suffocating in an air temple. Ironic,_ he thought, before black consumed him. 

\---

Aang was lost in a sea of rage and light. The image of Gyatso’s body, surrounded by the armor wearing corpses. It was too much. All of it was just too much. He had felt power building inside of him, and he’d let it take him over. 

But then the thunder had sounded. It scared him, throwing him back into that storm that had knocked him into the ocean. Lightning wasn’t his friend. Lightning was a threat. Lightning was the enemy. And the lightning wasn’t natural. It had come from a bender. A firebender. 

He had a target. 

Somewhere in him, he knew he needed to stop. He didn’t want to hurt that person. He didn’t want to hurt anyone. But he was lost, out of control. He was free falling, and had no wind to pull to himself, no wings to catch him. 

**"You cannot shock him, storm child,"** A voice whispered, breaking through the light around him. **"But you can _burn him out_ "**

There was a breath, before the world around him turned into flames. It burned through the rage and the light. IT engulfed everything, jerking the energy from him as it tore the breath from his lungs. He couldn’t breathe. 

He was a master airbender. He always had breath. It was a given. Even when he had hit the water in that storm, there had been air in his lungs. But now, all the air was gone. 

He slammed into the ground, the firestorm still twisting around him, but out of his control. There was no Avatar State anymore, no control. It was just him, breathless and airless, dying in the fire whirl of his own making. 

He was going to die. 

He was going to die. 

_He was going to die._

**“No, you are not, stupid wrym child,”** That same raspy voice growled, dark and tired. **“I am not losing my gambit in this game. You will live, but you will understand something."** It felt as if the voice was closer, wrapped around his shaking body. 

Aang choked as air rushed back into lungs. It hurt like nothing he’d ever felt before. He coughed and coughed, as the fire around him died. He curled up in a ball, shaking, as the voice spoke once more, right inside his head. 

**“Air may be freedom, boy, but it is also _destruction_. Do not throw my gifts around with no forethought, lest you break your pathetic monk vows. I am with you. I am a part of you. And I have no _mercy_." **


End file.
